Off the page advertising

Suave Shoes launched their direct brand in 2017 and have been investing in off the page advertising in the national press and magazines to recruit new customers cost effectively. Off the Page adverts have been created for a series of shoes and sandals for Autumn, Spring and Summer.

The target market is older and up market. Titles like Yours, People’s Friend and Garden Answers have been used to generate off the page sales and new customers.

Suave have had an e-commerce site since 2017 and have developed a catalogue for Spring and Summer 2018.

The UK population is ageing. There are over 21million adults over 50 and 10.3 million over 65’s. And 650,000 adults turn 65 every year. But there is a difference between the 55-64 age group and the 65+ group. That is reflected in what they read, their lifestyles and what they watch. Here are the top titles when you want to target the 65+ age group. Press Readership 65+

Getting the right tone in creative is paramount too. Don’t be patronising. Treat the audience as you would any other, with care and attention to detail. We take the old adage of “respect youe elders” seriously” when it comes to advertising. They know what they want and we need to identify and reflect that. See some of our creative advertising here.

Rowland’s Clothing are the latest DJH fashion client to run a Spring campaign aimed at off the page response. The creative supports the brand imagery and sells their Quilted Gilet. Full pages in national press supplements and national magazines will build brand awareness and generate direct sales. Rowland’s has an older, upmarket audience, ideal for off the page offers, and well served by the national press and magazine sector.

DJH have a wealth of experience in response advertising for home shopping and online fashion clients. As well as Rowland’s, campaigns have run for Crew Clothing, Carr & Westley, Peter Christian, Madeleine Fashion and jewellery for Pia. You can view DJH’s fashion gallery here.

One of the great strengths of response advertising is that it can be tested, and successful tests rolled out quickly.

With off the page advertising a style can be created that supports the brand positioning and encourages response. Always remember response in paramount but the branding is key in the longer term. Product selection should be based on top sellers, margin, price and brand perception. Campaigns should look to generate buyers to add to your database and who will have a good lifetime value.

Off the page advertising needs to be tested in well targeted but less expensive media. If you have past success in a medium use that as the test media. Then expand the test to more titles with the same, or refined, advertisement. Once you have set the style and know your media, widen the product range. Some titles might then offer A/B splits to test one creative against another.

We have found these principles have been highly successful in developing advertising for a range of clients, across a number of sectors: Carr & Westley, Peter Christian & Rowland’s in clothing, Elderberry with their aids for the elderly, Bigdug in shelving and Wentworth with jigsaw puzzles.

It is of course vital to monitor response and don’t rest on your laurels, keep testing whether it is an increase in space size, a new media or media positioning. Competitors will be changing their approach and media never stays still, so you will need to move your campaign on too.

Elderberry market a range of products targeting an elderly audience, products “for an Easy, Active & Healthy Life”. DJH identified these as perfect for off the page advertising. The target audience is 55+ mid market – see our post “Top Twenty Grey Market Titles” for details. DJH have created the advertising, planned and bought the media space.

Two products have been selected for the test – the “Indispensable” Lap Table and Table Top Ironing Board. National magazine advertising is running in February. The idea is to generate new customers, at a profit.